Phenomenon
by KibaSin
Summary: It was not every day that you met a superhero without a costume in Paris.


**Phenomenon**

**Summary:** It was not every day that you met a superhero without a costume in Paris.

**Genre: **Drama

**Rating:** K

* * *

"So, _why_ are we following this girl again?" The tiny cat-like creature poked his head out of his jacket, staring up at him with glittering green eyes. "Don't tell me you've finally decided to give up on Ladybug?"

Adrien Agreste scowled a little at the suggestion, though he kept his eyes on the new exchange student he had been following for a few blocks now. "I already told you, Plagg, I thought I saw an akuma following her at school. If Hawk Moth manages to akumatize her, then I can't be halfway across town when Ladybug needs me."

"Oh, _come on_," Plagg sighed heavily. "Don't you think she would have already been akumatized if you actually saw one following her?" He leaned dramatically against the boy's chest, saying, "Think of all the Camembert we could have eaten already if we hadn't ditched your bodyguard!"

"Not everything is about cheese, Plagg," Adrien replied, finally glancing down at him. The kwami had a point, though. It seemed unlikely that Hawk Moth would give up on his target, so where had the akuma gone? Had it akumatized someone else?

The black kwami looked _insulted_ by the suggestion, as he gaped up at the boy. His ears then swiveled in the opposite direction, and his mouth snapped shut when he suddenly shifted his bright green eyes toward the street Adrien had been watching. "Hey, that girl you were stalking is coming back this way."

_"What?"_ Adrien sputtered. "Quick, Plagg, _hide."_

"Shouldn't you hide?" Plagg complained. "You're the one following her. I'm just here for the Camembert you promised me later."

_"Plagg!"_

"Oh, _fine,"_ the kwami huffed lightly, before disappearing back into the designer jacket.

Sighing in relief, Adrien chose to ignore the muffled mutterings about owing the cat-like creature more Camembert for the trouble, as he placed a hand over his chest to quiet him further. It would not benefit him or Ladybug if someone he was _certain_ was being targeted by Hawk Moth found out about his secret identity. Or anyone, _really,_ for that matter. It was bad enough that everyone in Paris knew exactly who Queen Bee was outside of her superhero state. Though, not being in possession of the Bee Miraculous at all times had seemed to deter Hawk Moth from outright targeting Chloé directly, he knew it would be a different story if the villain discovered his secret.

His hand tightening in the fabric of his jacket, he refused to even _think_ about possibly having to return Plagg to Master Fu if that were to happen. Ladybug _needed_ him, and he was not about to be foolish enough to reveal himself as Cat Noir and lose the Miraculous that allowed him to assist her whenever she was in trouble.

"Did you _need_ something?"

Pulled from his inward thoughts, Adrien lifted his emerald green eyes, not realizing his gaze had lowered to the ground at his feet. _"Uh,"_ he felt his face immediately flush in embarrassment, knowing he had been caught by the way the girl lifted an eyebrow at the response. "I just wanted to make sure you were able to get home safely, that's all. I know you're new to the area, and I was worried that maybe you… might not…"

The tilt of her head caused her blue tinted black hair to cascade over one shoulder, as her eyebrow lifted an inch higher at the way he started to trail off in his explanation. _"Right."_ She clicked her tongue thoughtfully, before asking, "Who are you? I don't think we're even in the same class, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm a little _suspicious_ of you following me."

The color on his face darkened when he heard the muffled snicker from within his jacket, and was thankful the girl had not seemed to notice the noise. He stuck his hand out awkwardly, saying, "I'm Adrien Agreste." His friendly smile dimmed a little at her confused look, obviously not familiar with his father's line of work. "I'm, _um,"_ he tilted his finger up and to the left, "on all the billboards."

Her dark blue eyes lifted toward the billboard in question, as she said, "So you are."

"My father is a fashion designer," he continued.

_"Mm."_ The girl smiled a little at the uncomfortable tone in his voice, before she glanced back down at the hand he had allowed to fall back into the awkward gesture for a handshake. "I am Kagome. Higurashi Kagome." She bowed a little with the introduction, watching as he quickly removed his hand to rub at the back of his neck and return the greeting. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Adrien, even if you are a stalker."

"I wasn't…! _Really!"_ the boy stressed.

Her eyes glittered with amusement, and she laughed at the way his face twisted with panic.

_"Uh."_ Unable to help the blush that swept across his face once more, Adrien found himself smiling back at the delightful sound of her laughter. Her pretty face lit up like the sun in an instant, and for a moment he wondered how he could have ever suspected that Hawk Moth had targeted such a stunning personality. "Sorry, I… guess it probably did seem that way."

"Just a _little,"_ she replied.

Adrien immediately noticed the way her eyes lightened a shade, as she cast a glance over his shoulder.

"With your face plastered all over Paris, I suspect _you're_ the one being stalked."

_"Huh?"_

Her eyes flickered downward for only a moment when he turned his head to look behind him, before she met his eye with a glowing smile once more. "That car over there seems to be following you," she motioned. "If the way the man inside is glowering at you is any indication, I'd say he's your… driver?"

"Oh," Adrien sighed in relief, having thought his fans had caught sight of him with the pretty exchange student and chosen to snap photos of them together. "He's my bodyguard."

_"Oh."_ Kagome clicked her tongue again, asking, "Did you run away from him?"

"Not _necessarily,"_ Adrien mumbled. There was no doubt that the Gorilla certainly thought so, considering he had made a break for it the moment school had let out and he had thought he had seen the tiny black butterfly drifting after her from a distance. Scratching his cheek lightly, he supposed that that thought was silly now that he was standing before the bright, sunny smile the girl possessed. There was no real reason to suspect that Hawk Moth had targeted her, or that an akuma would have followed her for this long without having attached itself to her already.

The Miraculous wielder would never say he was not happy to potentially gain a new friend due to the mix up, but that did not stop the embarrassment he felt knowing the pretty exchange student was amused by his predicament. Her glittering eyes captured his attention like a moth drawn to a flame, and he found himself shuffling his feet and unsure what else to say now that she thought he had intentionally skipped out on his ride to… _stalk_ her. _"Uh…"_

The girl shifted on her feet then, her attention snapping to something directly behind him. The warmth of her gaze diminished in an instant, as her eyes became narrowed, dark pits set within her scrunched up face. Adrien felt a shiver race up his spine when she flickered them back toward him, saying, "I'm terribly sorry, Adrien, but I have to be getting home now. If you'll excuse me."

"Wait, _what?"_ Confused by the sudden change in her demeanor, Adrien found himself raising his hand toward her when she suddenly turned on her heel and began to briskly walk away from him. Stupefied for a moment, he wondered what had spooked her into flight after she had directly confronted him over following her. It was possible her phone had vibrated in her pocket, or maybe—

The sudden _beep, beep, beep_ of the car waiting for him nearby finally drew his attention, and Adrien would have sighed if it were not for the sudden hiss that passed through his teeth when he caught sight of the tiny black butterfly hovering above the vehicle. He stiffened, watching as it fluttered near the cracked window for a moment, before drifting away to follow the path that Kagome had taken when she had turned down another street rather abruptly.

Did she _know_ that Hawk Moth was directly targeting her? Was that why she had made a break for it as fast as her feet could possibly carry her? So she could get as far away from anyone Hawk Moth would no doubt coerce her into harming?

Ignoring the sudden shout from the Gorilla, Adrien ducked into a small opening between two nearby buildings without hesitation. Kagome was in danger, whether she knew it or not, and he could only hope to catch back up to her before she fell underneath Hawk Moth's control. His feet were still moving as he opened his jacket, meeting the small black kwami's gleaming green eyes that blinked up at him curiously. "I _saw_ it, Plagg," he explained quickly. "There's no time for arguing anymore, because that akuma was _definitely_ after Kagome!"

Gliding up into the air with ease, Plagg asked, "What are we waiting for then?"

Nodding, Adrien raised his hand that bore a simple silver ring with a shouted, "Plagg, _claws out!_" The transformation into Cat Noir was immediate, as the ring pulsed, drawing Plagg to him, and shifted into a dazzling shade of black with an engraved paw print that marked him as the Cat Miraculous wielder. Feeling Plagg's power surround him was exhilarating, but he knew there was no time to waste. There was no telling how far the exchange student would make it before the akuma caught up to her, or how long it might take him to figure out where exactly she had gone in an attempt to avoid it. All he could hope for was that he managed to keep it from attaching to her until Ladybug managed to arrive on the scene.

He cleared the building with a powerful leap, landing on an adjacent roof, and quickly began to race toward a park he knew was in the direction she had chosen. He would check there first in case she had thought to try and hide there, and then extend his search outward if she proved to be elusive. Hopefully she would not be too frightened when he literally dropped in on her, because the last thing he wanted was to startle her into Hawk Moth's clutches by revealing her presence if she had somehow managed to avoid detection before he found her.

Pulling out his staff, he sent as quick message to Ladybug explaining the situation when he saw the first sight of what he knew would be a difficult place to search high and low for the missing exchange student. Parc de Belleville was beautiful with its view of the city, but there were several areas that had become overgrown in recent years and only so much time to search every hill section before it was too late.

Bounding into the park startled several nearby tourists, but Cat Noir paid them little attention as he turned his head swiftly in every direction with each step. He bared his teeth in frustration after only a few minutes, wondering what it was exactly that had attracted Hawk Moth to the girl with such a warm smile. What dark emotion was she harboring that the villain would go to such lengths to search for her himself? How could she possibly be hiding it behind such a happy exterior and contagious laugh?

The brief flash of her darkened eyes quickened his pace as he remembered them settling upon him when she had spotted the butterfly herself. There was no telling how much pain and suffering Kagome might be holding onto, despite her first impression. There was no telling what exactly Hawk Moth would akumatize her into, or how powerful she might be once she was transformed. There was no way of knowing where the akuma would hide itself if that happened, and Cat Noir felt a cold, hard weight settle in his chest with the realization that he might already be too late.

Maybe she had never come to Parc de Belleville. Maybe he was attempting to search every spot he could think of for nothing. Maybe she had bypassed the park altogether to head home like she said, thus making his thought that she might try to hide amongst the overgrowth null and void.

Rounding a corner. Cat Noir could have sworn he felt his stomach drop several feet at the sight that greeted him just beyond the concealing foliage. The tiny nook was darkened by the shadow of wings, as a small vortex of black butterflies fluttered just above the tallest tree in a swirling mass. _"Mayura,"_ he hissed, knowing that the Peacock Miraculous must have been utilized to enhance Hawk Moth's power once more to create so many akuma.

But, _why…?_

Pushing through the bush blocking the path gifted him with the vision of Higurashi Kagome standing at the center of the concealed nook. The girl's back was turned toward him, her backpack discarded on the ground nearby, and she had her head tilted toward the swarm amassing just out of her reach. Shafts of light danced around her as the butterflies shifted, awaiting direction, and it left the superhero with only one burning question.

Why _her?_ Why was Hawk Moth putting forth so many akuma for _her?_

Snapping his staff out to the side to extend it, the boy prayed that Ladybug would arrive soon. He had no idea if he could counter so many akuma at once without becoming akumatized himself, let alone save someone who Hawk Moth appeared desperate to get his hands on. The most he could do was pray for the best, and hope that if all else failed, Ladybug managed to save the day with her Miraculous like she had done time and time again.

As he took that first step forward, though, he did not expect for the swarm to suddenly plummet from the sky toward the girl awaiting below. _"No!"_ he yelled, extending his hand toward the pretty exchange student that turned her head with the shout. Kagome's blue eyes connected with his own for only a second before she was surrounded by the mass, butterflies spilling upon the ground and fluttering back up like discarded smoke. _"...no,"_ his voice lowered into a quiet whisper of disbelief, as he felt his staff slip from his grip and clatter against the ground near his feet.

_He had been too late._

_He had waited a second too long._

An akuma fluttering toward him with the depressing thoughts shook him from the horror that he might have just witnessed Hawk Moth take control of his greatest villain yet. A quick swipe of his claws dispatched the butterfly, before he swept his staff back up off the ground with a flourish perfected over the many months spent using Plagg's power to thwart Hawk Moth. Now was _not_ the time to be succumbing to any kind of thoughts that might attract the villain's attention. He had a pretty exchange student to save, and he would make sure he kept her occupied until Ladybug showed up to save the day with her Lucky Charm.

The butterfly mass expanded outward like a balloon suddenly, a blue light softening the edge of their wings until they each had an otherworldly glow about them in the darkened nook. Cat Noir readied himself, widening his stance and preparing himself to catch the villain's attention when she emerged from the horde. "Don't worry, Kagome," he breathed, "Ladybug and I will save you."

The boy underneath the mask was not prepared for the akuma to suddenly ignite, however, each and every butterfly becoming engulfed by the brightening light. The blue flames flickered happily with each fluttering wing, as akuma everywhere began to fade back into dazzlingly white versions of themselves. Cat Noir's mouth fell open in a silent gasp, uncertain what to make of the display, and wondering if _this_ was Hawk Moth's intention. It would not have been the first time he attempted to dress a villain up as Ladybug, though he had certainly never gone as far as to attempt to recreate something like _this._

_Could_ he even recreate something like this? Had Mayura's power made it possible? Was that why he was so desperate that he would send an entire swarm of akuma after one girl?

As the mass started to dissipate, the Cat Miraculous wielder found himself even more at a loss when the pretty exchange student herself locked eyes with him from behind a veil of white wings. She looked _almost_ normal. He was certain she would have if not for the blue glow emitting from her skin and lifting her hair wildly around her. Was this part of the illusion? How was he supposed to convince Ladybug that she had been akumatized when it almost seemed like she was completely unharmed?

Her laughter filled the space between them, as a white butterfly landed on her cheek. The sound lanced straight through his heart, as a sense of calm serenity settled deep into his bones with the sound. He wanted to lower his weapon, to bask in the feeling welling up inside him, and he quickly had to remind himself that he might be being lulled into a false sense of security.

"It's okay now," Kagome said, holding out her hand for another butterfly to land softly on her outstretched finger. "That was an awful curse someone put on you, wasn't it?"

_Curse?_

The boy felt his brow crease in confusion, as he watched the girl interact with the white butterflies as if he was not even present. The glow surrounding her quietly sank back beneath her skin until it was nonexistent, and he might have thought it was just a trick of the light if not for the way the hidden power lit up her eyes from the inside. Even with the distance between them, he could tell they were an entirely different shade of blue. As if something inside of her had had a switch flipped, and she was basking in the moment as much as he felt like he wanted to.

"What was it supposed to _do,_ I wonder?" she hummed. "Attach itself to me, maybe? That would have been bad for both of us." She shifted her attention then, catching Cat Noir off guard with her next question. "Could you maybe tell me, Adrien?"

Cat Noir almost dropped his staff _again,_ as he sputtered, "_W-what?!_"

Her eyebrow tipped upward, though she took a moment to lean over to collect her fallen backpack from where it had been discarded at her feet. The smile on her face was radiant and bright when she stepped away from the circle of fluttering wings, and she laughed again at the way the boy stiffened when she approached him. "I'm sorry, was I not supposed to know?" she asked. "You're not exactly hiding yourself very well if I'm not."

Unsure how to react to the fact Kagome immediately figured out who he _actually_ was when she might be under Hawk Moth's control, Cat Noir gave a nervous laugh and took a step away from her. "I… uh, what are you talking about? Who's _Adrien?"_

"I'd _wondered_ about that odd aura you were carrying around with you," she mumbled, not at all deterred by him attempting to avoid her. "Is that what made it possible for you to change into… _this?"_ She giggled at the yelp he released when she finally caught him by his tail-like belt. "What exactly are you supposed to be anyway? A cat?"

Looking down into her shining, amused eyes, Cat Noir wondered once again _how_ anyone was supposed to be able to tell if Hawk Moth had successfully akumatized the girl. He was even second guessing himself, as she tugged playfully on his tail and stared up at the ears attached to his head. "I don't know what you're talking about," he stressed. "What were _you_ talking about? Curses? Auras?"

_"Oh!"_ She looked back over her shoulder at where she had been standing when she was attacked by the horde of black butterflies. "Do you mean you don't know? I understand if you're trying to keep your identity a secret, but surely you _know_ that those tainted butterflies were carrying around a rather nasty curse? I purified them, but I just assumed that you must have showed up like this because you were here to stop them. You seemed awfully concerned when they tried to attach themselves to me."

Blinking several times, he asked, "You… _purified_ them?"

"Well, _yeah,"_ she shrugged. "I kinda had to. I wasn't sure exactly what would happen if one of those attached themselves to someone, so I… _lured_ them here, I guess. Whoever was controlling them wasn't too happy when I distracted the first one I saw going after one of my classmates, and they were probably confused when I purified that one this morning. I figured if they were targeting me specifically that they would leave other people alone, so I kept at it until, well, _this_ happened." Kagome put her finger on her cheek, tipping her head slightly, as she added, "They aren't exactly hard to get rid of, so it really wasn't a problem."

Cat Noir was gapping at her by the end, not entirely sure how to process everything he was hearing.

"Did I, _um,_ mess up your job?"

Her giggle caused him to snap his mouth shut, as he said, "So, you're… _you?"_

"Well, I'm certainly _not_ cursed if that's what you're asking," she replied.

"But, you should be… _be…"_ He did not understand. Only the Ladybug Miraculous had the power to release Hawk Moth's spell over an akuma, or, rather, that is what Master Fu had told him. Was it possible…?

"Cursed?" she sighed. "No thanks. I've been there, done that."

_"What?"_

"Maybe I'll tell you," her eyes drifted back up to the ears on his head, _"if_ you let me pet your ears. Are they real?" Her hands were already reaching for them before he had the chance to answer, and she released a quiet, disappointed sigh when she realized they were just part of the suit he was wearing. _"Eh,_ that's too bad. I guess your hair is just covering your actual ears now, isn't it? Did the change make it longer?"

Blossoming into a cherry beneath the mask at the forward move, the boy could only flounder beneath the girl's curious stare. His mouth opened and closed several times, before he said the first thing that came to mind, "I'm _not_ Adrien Agreste!"

"Oh, you're _not,_ huh?" Her eyes glittered mischievously, as she playfully batted at the golden bell attached to the collar on his neck. It gave a small chime in response, as she said, "I don't think I ever mentioned that you were Adrien _Agreste._ To be honest, I'm not sure if I even remembered your surname."

"B… bu… _how?!"_

"I told you!" Kagome laughed. "I can tell by your aura. I can see it. It's being covered by the aura you were carrying around with you earlier in your jacket, but I can see it shining through the cracks when it shifts. It's like…" her voice softened, a light blush coating her cheeks, "..._like coming home_. That feeling you get when you come home to someone you love, that's what your aura reminds me of. I'd recognize it anywhere, even if your surrounding aura is attempting to shield your identity from others."

"My… jacket…?" he mumbled, feeling his own face heat up with her explanation. She… could see _through_ the Miraculous? She could see Plagg in some way, even when he was being concealed? Even when he was attached to his Miraculous?

"Don't worry."

Her smile reminded him of honey, it looked so sweet, and he could have sworn he felt his heart miss a beat for a second. This girl _knew_ who he was. She was capable of casting off Hawk Moth's evil without Ladybug's Lucky Charm. She… what _was_ she?

"I promise not to tell anyone your secret." Her hand raised between them, her smallest finger raised in a sign of good faith. "I pinkie promise, and I'll have you know that I have _never_ broken a pinkie promise."

"I'm… I'm _not,"_ he tried weakly, remembering Ladybug's conviction that they should _never_ allow anyone to know their secret identities. This girl, though… Kagome, she… If she was capable of repelling Hawk Moth without a Miraculous, was she not the best possible person to know his secret? It was possible she already knew Ladybug's, or would soon, and making this promise might convince her to keep the Ladybug Miraculous wielder's, as well.

"I _know,"_ she said softly.

His green cat-like eyes snapped toward her with the statement, confused.

"I know you're _not,_ and I promise that nobody else will, either," she continued. "But… I also know how it feels to go through all this." Her hand waved lightly through the air, gesturing toward where the mass of butterflies had once attempted to take control of her. "I'll always be here if you ever feel like you need somebody else to talk to, and since I _don't_ know who you are, it'll just stay between us."

His finger slipped into hers easily then, as he whispered, _"Promise."_

_"Promise."_

_"Friends?"_ It slipped out before he had the chance to take it back, and he felt his heart sputter again at the way her whole face lit up like the sun.

_"Always."_

Adrien Agreste smiled beneath the mask, not knowing how a simple promise between a Miraculous wielder and a foreign priestess would change Paris for the better. How it would change _him_ and _her,_ or how it brightened a thin red strand between them with the declaration. All he knew for certain in that moment was that he was glad he finally had someone to share the burden with, someone to talk to and lean on. A friend, _always._

* * *

**KibaSin: **My roommate's kid watched this show so much that I felt a spark of inspiration that blossomed into several story lines. This one managed to complete it, though, as it is only a one-shot! Yay!

Thank you for reading! I'd love it if you left a review.


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